A Little Help from a Friend
by Awesome Rapidash
Summary: Rina has a problem and Hanon and Lucia want to help her. But Rina would rather be alone! Will she be able to resolve her problems without their help? Or will a friend be needed to get her through!


_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything in the Mermaid Melody series, so don't sue me! _

_**This story is dedicated to Laney-chan. Happy Birthday! **_

_**A Little Help from a Friend**_

Rina walked out of her room and down to the kitchen to grab something for breakfast. Lately she'd been feeling a little under the weather in the mornings, but really didn't think too much of it.

As the green pearl Princess approached the dining room the friendly banter of her two closest friends could be heard. Rina sighed softly. _"Are boys and shopping all those two ever talked about?" _She shook her head and walked into the room.

"Good morning Rina!" Lucia chirped happily. "Want some pancakes? I can make them for you?"

Rina shook her head. "No thanks Lucia, I'll just have some juice. My stomach has been giving me some problems here lately."

"Maybe you're pregnant!" Hanon quipped playfully.

"I am not!" Rina shot back. "Don't say things like that."

A slightly hurt expression filled the aquamarine Princess' face. "I was just joking; you don't have to bite my head off, geez."

"Yeah Rina, I've noticed that you've been edgy here recently. Is something bothering you?" Lucia questioned a concerned tone evident in her voice.

"It's nothing." The green haired mermaid replied dismissively. "I don't want to talk about it."

Hanon got up and walked over to where Rina was sitting and pulled out the chair, taking a seat next to the North Atlantic Princess. "You don't have to keep your feelings all bottled up inside you," she began. "It might help you to feel better if you talked them out with us."

Rina looked at Hanon and gave her a small smile. "Perhaps, when the time is right, we can talk. Until then, I don't want to talk about it."

Hanon nodded and stood back up, walking back over to where the pink pearl Princess was busy devouring her third plate of pancakes.

Lucia looked up with interest as well as a bit of pancake on her cheek. "What did Rina say?"

"She said that she doesn't want to talk about things right now," Hanon explained. "She told me that maybe later would be a better time."

"Later, as in tonight later?" Lucia questioned back.

"How should I know?" the aqua haired girl replied. "Whenever she's ready, that's when."

Rina finished her juice and after placing the glass in the sink headed out towards the front door of the hotel. _"I need some time to myself,"_ she mused silently, pushing the metal and glass front door open and walking outside.

The sun felt good, warming her skin as she headed towards the beach.

* * *

Lucia watched from the back door of the Pearl Piari as Rina headed towards the azure waves crashing on the beach. "I hope Rina is alright."

"I'm sure she's fine," Hanon replied. 'She just has something on her mind, that's all."

"I hope you're right about that," Lucia murmured worriedly.

"Since when are you such a worry wart Lucia?" Hanon asked a tone of sarcasm slightly evident in her voice.

Lucia furrowed her brow and gave the South Atlantic Princess an evil glare. "What's that supposed to mean, Hanon?" she demanded.

"Well, it's not like you to really worry about what others are thinking, unless it's Kaito-kun of course!"

"That's not true," Lucia shot back. "I always wanna know what's going on."

"But only if you deem it interesting. If not, then you don't want anything to do with it."

Lucia thought for a moment, trying to come up with a reply. In the end she just returned her focus to the remaining pancakes on the plate in front of her.

Hanon shook her head and walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.

* * *

Rina walked across the cool sand and up to the point where the waves were breaking on the shoreline. She looked first to her left and then to her right, confirming that the beach was empty. Once she was sure that no one would see her she quickly ran forward and jumped into the warm sea water. The transformation from human to mermaid took only seconds, and Rina swam out towards some rocks not far away.

It took her about 20 minutes to arrive at the small outcropping of seaweed covered gray rocks, jutting out of the water about a half mile from the shore. Well out of reach of any human swimming on the beach, she swam up to a platform shaped stone just above the waters surface.

Carefully she slipped out of the water and up onto the stone. This was a favorite spot of hers when she needed to be alone with her thoughts. As she did, her thoughts returned to the events of the previous night.

"_Why did Masahiro have to act like that?"_ she mused. _"I just wanted to talk about our future after all." _

Rina sat back and dipped the end of her emerald green tail into the warm sea water lapping at the rock. Closing her eyes she began to sing softly.

"_Itsuka, konna hi ga kuru to yokan shita...?  
Koi ni tomadou kokoro yurete yurete itai hodo..."_

"_Daremo kidzukanai fukai kanashimi mo  
Nazeka tsutawatte shimau  
Maru de saiai no hito no you ni" _

"_Watashi to iu chiisa na hoshi  
Hitoshizuku no ai ga mebaeta  
Ushinau mono osorete wa tatakaenai  
Tsuki ni inori hoshi ni inori  
Yukubeki michi mune ni kizamu  
Namida ga atsuku naru wake wa...  
Unmei no Piece of Love  
Meguriaeta Piece of Heart"_

"_Subete miseta nara kokoro ubawareru...?  
Keredo nugisutete yukeru  
Sore wa saiai no hito to dakara" _

"_Ookisugiru yume wa tooku tachidomaru wake ni wa ikanai  
Watashi no kokoro dake mitasu ai naraba...?  
Kaze ni inori ame ni inori  
Arashi wo ima yokan shitemo  
Saigo wa hitotsu ni naru no ga...  
Hontou no Piece of Love  
Deau tame no Pain of Love _

"_Watashi to iu chiisa na hoshi  
Hitoshizuku no ai ga mebaeta  
Ushinau mono osorete wa tatakaenai  
Tsuki ni inori hoshi ni inori  
Yukubeki michi mune ni kizamu  
Namida ga atsuku naru wake wa...  
Unmei no Piece of Love  
Meguriaeta Piece of Heart" _

Rina opened her eyes and looked out at the open sea beyond the horizon, wondering if he would miss her if she was to return to her kingdom. She watched a little longer, waiting for the sun to begin to slip below the horizon.

She was about to slip back into the ocean when her stomach decided to cramp up. She withered in pain until her stomach settled back down. _"Damn, could Hanon be right?"_ Her mind pondered wildly. _"I know Masahiro and I were intimate not long ago, but I was so sure that…" _

A loud squawking brought her back to reality and she opened her eyes to see a rather large seagull perched on an outcropping of rock near her head. "Geez, did you have to be so loud?" She questioned the winged creature, as though it would respond to her.

Instead the gull simply tilted its head and stared back at her.

Rina shook her head. "Look at me. I'm talking to a seagull!"

The bird perhaps sensing that the mermaid sitting before it had no desire to have a nice chat extended its wings and flew off.

Rina watched as it disappeared into the vastness of the open ocean. She then slipped softly back into the warm waters and swam into the depths. As she glided along the ocean floor, her thoughts once again began to wander, drifting off to a tall bi speckled young man whom she loved deeply.

"_What will Masahiro think if I am pregnant?"_ she mused. _"Will he be happy? Or will he reject me?" _

"I knew I could find you here," a familiar voice said from behind her.

Rina knew before turning around that the voice belonged to the Princess of the South Atlantic Ocean. Turning around confirmed this, as there just a short distance away was the aquamarine pearl Princess. "H…Hanon, how did you know I'd be here?"

A smile filled the mermaid's face. "It's because this is where you always go when you need to think," she answered, swimming over and settling down next to her friend. "I was worried about you after what you said this morning. So I came here to wait for you."

"I see," Rina replied plainly. "But what makes you think I'd be any more willing to talk here?"

Hanon shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. But I figured that I had to at least try after all. So how about it, you wanna tell me what's been bothering you?"

The green haired mermaid let out a small sight. "Since you're here, I might as well as tell you."

Hanon's face lit up. "I'm sure it will feel better once you get it off you chest."

Rina looked directly at her friend. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone! That's especially true for Lucia. Telling her a secret is like putting it on the front page of the newspaper."

Hanon nodded her head in agreement. She knew that while Lucia meant well, sometimes she had a hard time keeping things under wraps. "Sure Rina, this will stay just between you and me."

Satisfied that the aqua haired girl would keep things confidential Rina began. "You know how this morning you said that I might be pregnant. Well, there is a possibility that could be true."

At first Hanon was too shocked to speak, but quickly regained her composure. "You mean you and Masahiro-kun have…."

Rina nodded her head. "Yeah, last month he invited me to go on a weekend trip with him and well, things got a little, um… out of control."

Rina's apparent embarrassment caused Hanon to giggle. "That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But he's a human and I'm a mermaid Princess!"

"So what, you love him don't you?" Hanon argued back. "What difference does it make?"

A small smile formed on Rina's lips as she considered what was just said. "What about the fact that I might be pregnant?" she asked, the smile disappearing as fast as it had appeared.

"He loves you, doesn't he? I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know," Hanon answered in a voice filled with positive emotion.

"Of course he loves me, don't be stupid!" Rina retorted. "I'm just not sure about this, that's all."

"Well, have you even gone to the doctor to make sure?" Hanon questioned intently.

"No, I haven't yet," Rina answered.

"So, all this worry might be for nothing after all."

"I suppose so," Rina muttered, regretting that she'd allowed herself to get into such a conversation in the first place.

"So how about we do this. Tomorrow you and I will go to the doctor's office and have you checked out. That way you'll know for sure if you are or aren't pregnant."

"But what if I am and Masahiro rejects me because of it?" Rina shot back.

"Then I will personally kick his ass into next week for hurting my friend!"

Hanon's response brought a small giggle from Rina. "You, kick his ass? He's a boxer you know. Not some pushover."

"That doesn't matter!" Hanon replied. "He's part of the reason you would be pregnant, so he has to take responsibility for his actions," she added, pounding her fist into her hand for effect.

"You really mean that don't you?" Rina asked curiously.

"Of course I do," the aquamarine Princess replied. "Friends cover each others backs after all."

"Alright, you convinced me," Rina conceded. "I'll go and see the doctor in a few days."

"Why wait. Let's go tomorrow," Hanon interjected. "We can tell Lucia and Nikora that we're going out for lunch. They'll believe that."

Rina nodded. "Okay, okay we'll go tomorrow."

Hanon smiled. "Great. At least you'll know the truth afterwards."

Together the two mermaid Princesses swam back to the surface and after checking that the coast was clear, emerged from the water and reverted back to their human forms. They walked the short distance back to the Pearl Piari and entered through the back door.

Hanon was about to head to her room when Rina placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Thanks for that Hanon."

The aquamarine Princess smiled happily. "Sure thing Rina, and don't worry I won't say a thing."

"I know you won't," Rina replied before walking off towards her room.

* * *

The following day Rina walked into the kitchen along with Hanon. Both Lucia and Nikora looked up from where they were sitting at the table.

"Rina and I are going out for lunch today," Hanon announced.

"Hey, I wanna go too," Lucia pouted.

"Sorry, not this time," Hanon chirped back. "This is just going to be me and Rina."

"Aww, that's not fair," the pink pearl Princess sighed.

Rina gave her a small smile before following the aquamarine Princess out of the hotel. _Yep, this was between her and Hanon, but untimely it was going to end up being between her and Masahiro…_

_And done! I hope everyone liked this. I enjoyed writing it. Please let me know what you think with a review. Till next time, ja ne! _


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